


Relative Conciliation

by Black_Crystal_Dragon



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Anchorage Shatterdome, Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, Birthday, Brother-Sister Relationships, Gen, Humor, Pre-Canon, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 09:09:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14233986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Crystal_Dragon/pseuds/Black_Crystal_Dragon
Summary: All Jake wanted for his sixteenth birthday was to be admitted to the Jaeger Academy. Unfortunately, his dad insisted on following the rules.A snapshot of Jake and Mako's relationship in 2022.





	Relative Conciliation

**Author's Note:**

> The title was pretty much given to me by [Ice_Elf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ice_Elf/) (thank you!), who also beta'd this for me. All remaining mistakes are mine - please tell me if you spot any.

**Anchorage Shatterdome, 2022**

There was a tap on the door of Jake’s room, followed by a voice: “It’s me.”

Mako. Jake let out a sigh that turned into a groan, tipping his head back against the concrete wall at his back.

He thought about just sitting there until she went away, but then dropped his heels off the edge of his bed and stood up. It wasn’t Mako’s style to hang around outside his room waiting for him to emerge from his totally justified bad mood. If he didn’t answer the door, she’d leave him in peace. Except, then he’d feel bad – Mako didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of his anger when she wasn’t even the one he was well and truly pissed off with.

He unlocked the door and opened it a crack. Mako stared at him.

“What?” he said. Seeing her in the uniform, all finished with her training and ready to hop into the drift as soon as she got a co-pilot and a Jaeger, was really not helping.

“May I come in?” Mako asked calmly.

For a second, Jake considered saying _no_ and shutting the door in her face, but he knew if he did that he’d only be stuck with the after-image of Mako’s disappointment seared into his mind’s eye. He shrugged and stepped away from the door, leaving it to swing open as he went back over to the bunk and sat down again with his back to the wall and his legs stretched across the width of the mattress. Mako followed him in and perched on the edge of the bed alongside him, staring at the brightly coloured posters taped to the wall opposite. Jake couldn’t stand to look at them – they all featured Jaegers.

“So,” he prompted when the silence began to fray his already short temper. “Did you have something to say, or what?”

“I didn’t come here to give you a lecture,” she murmured, and Jake knew what she was _not_ saying: that he’d already had one, from his dad, and he didn’t need to hear the same thing all over again from her. He scowled and folded his arms.

“It’s not fair, he didn’t even listen,” Jake said, without really meaning to. “Chuck Hansen went into the Jaeger Academy at sixteen!”

“Chuck Hansen was a special case,” Mako said with a very slight tilt of her head. Jake couldn’t see much more than her profile, but he thought there was the tiniest frown building on her forehead. “His father needed a co-pilot –”

“Yeah, but he was still sixteen,” Jake protested. He shuffled forwards until he was sitting on the edge of the bunk with her. “Look, can’t you talk to him? He’d listen to you.”

Mako offered him a smile as she turned towards him, but she was shaking her head. “Not about this, Jake.”

He groaned and flopped backwards, throwing one arm behind his head to cushion it against the concrete. He wasn’t surprised that she was taking his dad’s side, but it was still a disappointment.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up,” she said, twisting around to look at him and propping herself on one arm. “When you join the Academy, there will be no more – hmm, lying around in bed until noon.”

“Hey, today was a special occasion!” Jake protested, pushing himself up onto his elbows even as Mako let out a light chuckle at his expense.

“No more whining, either,” she teased.

“I’m not –” He broke off and glared as Mako laughed again. “This is a completely reasonable protest about the unfairness of the system.”

“Sure,” Mako replied, her eyes twinkling. Then her smile turned softer and she added, “You’ll get there one day.”

“Yeah,” Jake sighed.

He’d just hoped that ‘one day’ might have been ‘today’. He’d just assumed that his name was already down for the next recruitment cycle and his dad was waiting to tell him on his birthday, as part of his present. Instead, they’d had a row about how he wasn’t old enough, and now they weren’t speaking – Jake’s choice, but it wasn’t like his dad was likely to come and build any bridges.

The worst part was that he felt really stupid. His dad hadn’t even let Mako join the Academy before she turned eighteen – and if anyone had the right to get a head start, it was her.

He glanced up at her and wondered how she’d managed to stand the waiting. It was bad enough for him, and he just had ordinary impatience burning him up from the inside. Mako wanted revenge, or maybe just to prove that she wasn’t a frightened little girl any more – but she’d waited through five long years without complaint.

Of course, once she had got in, she’d quickly become the star pupil, completed her six months of training with a glowing report just as they’d all known she would, and now was just waiting for the right partner and an available Jaeger. 

Jake had foolishly thought that if he could get through the Jaeger Academy early, he might have a shot of being Mako’s co-pilot. She was the best they had, his dad was always saying so. Which probably meant he didn’t have a chance, but he was allowed to dream. He’d imagined the look on his dad’s face when they told him they were drift compatible: that expression he usually saved for Mako, because Mako was good at the things his dad thought were important, like patience and diligence and respect, and most of the time Jake was not. He’d thought maybe they could balance each other out in the drift, make his dad proud together.

Now that idea could be consigned to the scrap heap: by the time he turned eighteen, she’d already have someone else.

“Hey, you think we’d be drift compatible?” he asked, half serious.

Mako shot him an unimpressed look and said flatly: “No.”

Jake snorted out a laugh at her blunt rejection. “Nah, I guess not – I’m way too much fun to be compatible with you.”

He nudged at her with his knee, trying to be as obnoxious as possible. He had about a half-second’s warning from Mako’s sharpening expression before she retaliated, diving on him and viciously tickling his side.

Jake let out a howl of helpless laughter – Mako was dangerously good at tickling. She used her Jaeger Academy combat skills to give her an unfair advantage, and quickly had him pinned down and helpless.

“Who’s no fun?” she asked breathlessly, still digging her fingers into his sides.

“Not you!” he gasped, squirming away and trying to breath through convulsive laughter. “Mako, please! I’m sorry!”

Finally she stopped and sat back on her heels. He slowly uncurled from the ridiculous ball she’d forced him into and looked up. Mako was grinning, her hair in disarray and her eyes bright, looking about five years younger than she had when she came in. He sat up.

“You’re dangerous, you know that,” he said to Mako.

“That’s the idea,” she said in a voice that was far too satisfied. She neatened her hair with her fingers and she climbed down from the bed, transforming as she did so from Jake’s big sister into her new self: the PPDC official, his dad’s shadow. There was still a brightness in her eyes, though, that was purely the Mako he knew. She held out her hand to Jake. “Come on. You have done enough sulking.”

“I wasn’t sulking,” Jake muttered, but he grabbed her wrist and let her pull him to his feet.

Mako towed him out of his room and into the open-plan living space that was typical of Shatterdome family housing. There was a gleefulness about her that didn’t quite fit with the subdued PPDC uniform, and Jake found himself grinning as he followed her across the room.

“Where are we going?” he asked as she led the way out into the corridor.

Mako stopped and clasped her hands behind her, giving him a mischievous smile. “Your birthday present. I think you were promised a proper tour of the Jaegers?”

Jake’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?” he blurted. He had assumed that the promised tour was off the cards after his explosive argument with his dad. “For real? Access all areas?”

Admittedly, he could sneak into most places in the Shatterdome, regardless of the ‘authorised personnel only’ signs, so he wouldn’t be seeing anything new as such – but there was something to be said for being around the Jaegers legitimately. For one thing, he wouldn’t have to avoid the J-Techs and he could ask all the questions he liked without getting into trouble.

“Almost. I’m not the Marshall,” Mako admitted. Her smile faded slightly. “But we could find him?”

Jake hesitated. He knew Mako wouldn’t dangle this in front of him – on his birthday no less – if she didn’t fully intend to go through with it. However, just the fact that she’d mentioned his dad was a sign that she wanted to do it with his consent, and ideally with the three of them together, as originally planned. Jake considered it. On the one hand, his dad could literally open doors, and he really wanted to see inside a Jaeger’s Conn-Pod, but on the other, that would require actually speaking to him. He’d probably have to say that his dad was right.

Mako took his arm and led him towards the lift. “We don’t have to.”

He could hear her disappointment. Sighing internally, he squeezed her arm and forced a cheery smile onto his face. “Nah, let’s go and find the old grump. I’m pretty sure he’ll have cooled off by now. Won’t he?”

She hit the call button and gave him a nudge, then said mock-seriously, “If not, I’ll protect you.”

Jake shook his head, but he could feel his smile getting more genuine. “Yeah, you’ll just distract him with how perfect you are. You know how much I love to hear him go on and on about how many virtual kaiju you’ve killed.”

Mako tilted her head slightly to one side and gave him a sweet little smile. “You’ll just have to do better when it’s your turn.”

“You know what, maybe I will,” he said as the lift doors opened. “I bet I’m a natural.”

“I’d better watch out,” Mako said as she propelled him into the lift and pressed the appropriate floor button. Then she glanced at him sidelong and added, “In two years.”

Jake laughed – and then couldn’t quite believe that he was actually laughing about the fact that he wasn’t allowed to sign up until he was eighteen. It was too hard to hold on to the bitterness. He was still disappointed, but the anger he’d felt before had disappeared.

“Yeah, well, enjoy being on top for those two years, ‘cause when I join the Academy, I’m knocking you off that pedestal, Mako,” he said, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“I look forward to watching you try,” she grinned as the lift started to rise.


End file.
